Or at least that's what I keep trying to tell myself as I weed through my closets and bookshelves. ;)

Yes, I'm still on the clutter-busting bandwagon. Even more so since I've discovered what a stress-reducing effect it has when I'm in relatively clutter-free areas of the house. Zaphod the cat, however, is on the alert, feeling that this change signifies some threat to his reign over us mere humans. He'll get over it soon enough.

But what I can't get over is some of the stuff I've held on to for longer than I care to admit. Or the reasons I gave myself for holding on to it. Sure, most women dream of dropping two dress sizes overnight, but some items, like over a dozen vases, baffled me since I'm not particularly fond of fresh-cut flowers. (I'd rather see them growing in a garden.)

I also discovered that Aden and I possess enough travel-sized toiletries to take a trip every month for approximately 17 years. And don't even go there with the dental floss -- I should take up macrame to make use of this resource. ;)

Then there are some areas of the house where clutter-busting doesn't happen. Namely my record album collection. I still cringe when I weeded through the vinyl and sold off a few I'd considered unwanted, including Kilimanjaro by The Teardrop Explodes.

Days later, I felt the loss as I couldn't get "Sleeping Gas," the album's most popular track, out of my head. How was I to know that I'd need to hear it again to banish the song from my grey cells? And how was I to know that as soon as it left my house, I'd want to have the album again.

So I won't make the same mistake twice. If there is a vinyl album in the house, it shall stay here until we trot off to the nursing home. And I'm sure they'll have turntables wherever we end up. You just can't stop the '80s.

Have a listen and see if it sticks in your head, too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fed3j2zkdgg

Labels: , ,